How much longer do you think iTunes will be in the "now"?

[Michael CM1]

iTunes and Amazon will sell digital music for as long as I can see. I had hangups about not having a physical CD and the actual factory disc at first, but I got over it quickly. I now could care less because I don't even know where most of my old physical CDs are. All they did was clutter my place up and get lost.

I back up my stuff using Time Machine, but I obviously need to do a better backup offsite in case my place were to burn down. If broadband speeds weren't so slow, it would be great to have remote backups available in HUGE capacities at very low cost. I've probably got 50 GB of music and 10-15 GB of photos. MobileMe is $100/year for 20 GB.

 

[quietstormSD]

I believe iTunes will be around as long as Apple creates devices that need iTunes to drive up the demand of those devices by making it seemless to purchase and upload songs, movies, podcasts, tv shows etc to those very devices. So as long as apple continues with that trqtegy iTunes will be there(or at least some version of it with the same purpose as stated above.

 

[thelatinist]

Digital entertainment is here to stay. Let's face it; music and video are information, and the current paradigm in information storage and exchange is digital. Codecs, sampling rates, and resolutions may change; physical media may one day be completely unnecessary; but until and unless there is a monumental shift in our understanding of information (something I don't think any of us could possibly predict), I think it's safe to assume that these ones and zeroes will continue to dominate.

I will say that I would not be surprised to see digital entertainment shift toward a subscriber model as the Internet becomes more mobile and the feasibility of abandoning local storage increases. Who would needs hundreds of GB of music on his iPod/computer if he could pay a single monthly fee to listen to any song ever recorded streamed instantly and on demand...anywhere? That may be where we're heading.

 

[That70sGAdawg]

I buy all my music on Amazon. I only use iTunes when it's either A) Free or B) Amazon doesn't have it.

I buy everything from Amazon too as they dropped copyright protection before dropping copyright protection was cool. Had higher bit rates, and lower prices than iTunes also for a long time.

 

[Natesac]

Sometimes they will. It's not guaranteed. The TOS states that you must keep all purchases backed up because they are a one time download. I have 4 1TB drives full of iTunes purchases so it is impossible for me to back them up now. Most of them are TV shows and movies purchased in iTunes. Full and up to date seasons and complete series in HD if available such as the Office, 30 Rock, X-Files, 6 seasons of 24, Lost (going to probably just delete Lost) and many others that if I lost them, it would take me weeks to download everything.

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HOLY CRAP! 4TB of stuff purchased from iTunes? That must have cost a large fortune. I could see a buildup over the years but 4TB!!!! That is got to be close to buying a really really nice car.

 

[SpaceKitty]

HOLY CRAP! 4TB of stuff purchased from iTunes? That must have cost a large fortune. I could see a buildup over the years but 4TB!!!! That is got to be close to buying a really really nice car.

4TB isn't allot of space to use when you realize that all the HD seasons of lost take up about 350GB of space. Then add all the HD seasons of Desperate Housewives, the Office, 30 Rock, Weeds and others, it easily takes up allot of space.

Allot of the seasons I bought while they were on sale like the X-Files when they were $24 a season. I also had $600 in iTunes gift cards given to me so I used those to buy the most expensive seasons like the Sopranos.

 

[OGDaniel]

I think iTunes or some Apple-employed modification of iTunes will still be top dog for the next 50+ years. They're just dominating, and there's no sign of slowing down with their devices. It's the easiest way to organize all media.

Simply amazing.

 

[sushi]

Convenience is winning and with that the iTMS.

MP3 and ACC formats are very popular and can easily purchase and DL from various sites.

Personally, I have over 500 CDs, but I can't remember the last time I purchased one. It's been years. The iTMS and other make it so convenient to purchase a song these days.

The online/digital downloads are becoming more popular. With that, eventually, we will see the death of the CD. How long will it take, who knows. My guess is that this will happen within 5-10 years.

 

[Natesac]

4TB isn't allot of space to use when you realize that all the HD seasons of lost take up about 350GB of space. Then add all the HD seasons of Desperate Housewives, the Office, 30 Rock, Weeds and others, it easily takes up allot of space.

Allot of the seasons I bought while they were on sale like the X-Files when they were $24 a season. I also had $600 in iTunes gift cards given to me so I used those to buy the most expensive seasons like the Sopranos.

Nice! More power to ya. I have never had my iTunes folder spike over 60gig. Even with all my podcasts. I usually watch my shows on dvr or hulu. But I do see how iTunes works for a lot of people. You are a perfect person to buy an apple tv.

What I would do with $600 worth of iTunes..........